What is the estimated tax increase?

If the referendum is successful, a community member who owns a house valued at $250,000 would see their taxes increase approximately $742 a year for 20 years. The following chart shows the monthly tax impacts for homes of varying values.

$100,000 Market Value Home ---> $21.83/month

$200,000 Market Value Home ---> $48.50/month

$300,000 Market Value Home ---> $75.16/month

$400,000 Market Value Home ---> $101.83/month

Further information about the property tax impact can be found here

What is a Bond Referendum?

Simply put, a bond is much like a personal home loan, and is a way for government entities, such as school districts, to borrow money for large projects and repay them with future tax proceeds. An individual generally approaches a financial institution for a mortgage because they don't have the means to pay for their home with one large initial payment.

What is the ballot language?

Shall the Board of Education of Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District Number 3, Champaign and Piatt Counties, Illinois, build and equip an elementary school building, build and equip a junior high school building to replace the existing Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School, alter, repair and equip the Lincoln Trail Elementary School Building, improve school sites and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $112,800,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?

How do I vote?

All registered voters in the Mahomet-Seymour CUSD #3 are eligible to vote in this election. Residents may also request absentee ballots and find a complete list of voting locations by visiting the Champaign County Clerk Website

Can I vote early?

Yes! Early voting begins 40 days preceding the election and extends through Nov. 4. Any qualified voter may vote prior to Election Day at any site established for early voting by the election authority. The most up to date information about early voting and other ways of casting your ballot can be found by visiting the Champaign County Clerk Website

How many yes votes are required for the bond referendum to pass?

A simple majority (50 percent + 1) is required for the referendum to pass.

What property does the district have to build upon?  

The district currently owns approximately 54.5 acres south of MPE. This includes roughly 16.5 acres between MPE and the new South Mahomet Rd. extension. And 38 acres south of the new South Mahomet Rd. extension.   This referendum proposes the use of the 16.5 acres north of South Mahomet Rd. for the construction of the New 2nd & 3rd grade building. The remaining 38 acres would be available for future use.

How was this plan developed?

The referendum that will appear on the ballot this November was guided and created completely by community input.  During the spring and summer of 2023, the Board of Education conducted extensive community listening sessions to get input directly from our stakeholders. Following those listening sessions, we moved directly into a Strategic Planning process in the fall of 2023.  During the Strategic Planning process, community members examined and provided input into all aspects of the district, including facilities.  Then in early 2024, a Community Facilities Committee was formed conducting a more detailed review of our district facilities. That group examined multiple scenarios to address our space issues. This past summer, the top four scenarios were presented to our community in an extensive survey, then a follow-up survey that focused on the top two options was conducted. The plan that will be on the ballot is the clear community preference of all the options that were brought forward.

Why should we do the work now and not wait until later?

The district continues to deal with steady growth in student enrollment and those trends are expected to continue.  Waiting longer would only increase the needs of our district, all while requiring further investments into outdated facilities and temporary mobile classrooms. 

Just as homeowners must sometimes spend money to maintain their homes, the District must spend money to protect the investment that the community has made in its schools and neighborhoods. If approved, the bond  issue will allow us to help protect the financial future of our District, continue to provide outstanding environments for our students, and allow M-S#3 schools to remain a source of pride in our community.

Investing in updated and improved buildings will benefit many future generations of students and homeowners. The facilities will be more efficient to operate thus saving our District money. It is good financial and educational planning.

Finally, building costs continue to go up.  Every year we wait to address these needs, we end up spending more money to get less in return. 

What are the identified needs that will be addressed if the bond proposal is successful?

This plan focuses solely on the biggest needs of Mahomet-Seymour CUSD #3 - student capacity.  This is done through the construction of two new facilities that results in an increase of capacity to three existing buildings impacting grades PK-8th Grades. The only non-classroom and capacity scopes of work are the HS Soccer field relocation to the High School campus, and the new practice track at the New 6th - 8th grade campus. Both of which are necessary to allow for the replacement of MSJH with a new building. 

Capacity Gained by:

• Grades Pre-K - 1st (MPE): Gains capacity through relocation of 2nd grade to New 2-3.

• Grades 2nd - 3rd (New): Gains capacity at new facility. 

• Grades 4th - 5th  (LTE): Gains capacity through relocation of 3rd grade to New 2-3. 

• Grades 6th - 8th (New): Gains capacity through replacement of existing MSJH

Why is the district not moving the transportation building, or providing needed upgrades to the athletic facilities at MSHS?

Additional scopes of work such as the transportation building relocation and the athletic field upgrades were consciously removed in response to community input and priorities.  This plan focuses solely on the biggest needs of Mahomet-Seymour CUSD #3 - student capacity. 

Efforts to reloacte the transportation facility from the LTE campus, out of the heart of town will continue to be a priority, but will not be funded via this referendum. 

Upgrades to athletic programs will also remain an option for future facility upgrades, but only after we have the capacity needs of our students solved.

Would this referendum eliminate the need for mobile trailer classrooms at MSJH?

Yes! This plan replaces MSJH with a new facility that would have the necessary capacity to support grades 6-8. Considerations will also be made for future expansion of the new building to support longer term growth. 

What is the timeline for design and construction?

If approved by voters on Nov. 5, design of the projects would begin immediately. While the schedule will be coordinated closely with building and district admin initial hopes are to have both new buildings online as soon as possible.  Currently it is comfortable to say that the New 2nd & 3rd grade facility on South Mahomet Road could be occupied for the 2026-27 school year.  Renovations at LTE related to the removal of third grade could also be completed at that point.  Completion of the New 6th - 8th grade at the existing MSJH site could potentially be occupied during the 2026-27 school year; however, due to the constraints of constitution with the existing building still in operation, occupancy by the fall of 2027 is the current target. This schedule is tentative and will be refined through the design process to deliver the best project for Mahomet-Seymour schools and our community.

Will these projects disrupt student learning?

Logistics related to the replacement of MSJH will be of utmost importance. Every effort to ensure a continuation of a high-quality learning environment is planned. Construction at schools is a very common occurrence. While things will feel different and be a bit busy at times, efforts will be made to limit student and contractor traffic and occupancy, noise is controlled and limited to non-peak times, and ultimately that we are able to continue delivering as much of our high quality programming as possible. In fact, the project may provide a learning opportunity for the students as well. Observing the construction and design process has been found to peak student’s interest in those careers. 

What will the District do if the referendum does not pass?

The current needs will not go away. Delaying improvements will only result in higher costs in the future. The proposal, if approved in November, will provide urgently needed capacity, and avoid expensive future repairs. If the referendum is not successful, it would cause the Board of Education and administrative teams to rethink next steps.  Addition of more very expensive mobile classrooms, split schedules at MSJH or even reduction of educational programs, extra curricular programs district wide,  and class offerings at MPE, LTE, and MSJH may be considered.

Why is a new building necessary? Can't we just build on or UP at the existing site?

Due to the poor condition of the existing MSJH, as well as the significantly undersized building and site, it has been found infeasible to solve our MSJH capacity needs on that site. Based on the needs outlined in the physical needs assessment, as well as the added square footage necessary, the costs to renovate and add on at that site would be nearly the same cost of a facility that will function much better today, and well into the future.

As far as "building up" this question is one that seems to have some history, and regardless of the source, we appreciate the opportunity to clarify.

The capacity to build UP on a facility, must be designed into the original structure. Based on the existing documents that we have available, this building was constructed to be a single story facility. 

Building UP on an existing facility, that was not specifically designed for this, is not a viable solution. This is the case at all of our existing buildings. The structure to support a roof is less than what it requires to support a floor. To remedy this, would require additional beams/joists in the roof, as well as increasing the size of the columns and beams holding up that structure.  If this were to occur, it would also require upsizing of the foundations, which would mean cutting through existing floors to install that system.  

With this in mind, the construction of an expansion on top of the existing MSJH, would essentially require building a new structure in the existing building, and cost significantly more than building an addition.

I don't have children who attend M-S #3. How does the bond referendum benefit me?

High quality schools are one of the single most impactful factors when looking at thriving successful communities and they help to maintain strong property values. Protecting our school is an investment in our community, an investment in the value of every homeowner in our community. Besides property value, this bond referendum is an efficient and effective way to add the capacity that is needed, while taking the most burdensome facility (MSJH) offline - avoiding millions of dollars of future maintenance and repair that is coming due. 

What happens if economic conditions change and prices for projects increase?

With today’s economy, if the proposal is approved by the voters, the district will be diligent to protect the taxpayer’s investment while completing the identified projects in the bond referendum proposal. The current budgets developed throughout the planning process are based on local and regional projects of similar scopes and types.  These figures not only estimate costs related to design, and construction, but also include contingency dollars that allow for unknown items to be accomplished as the design progresses. In addition to the basis of the budget, through the design process there will be more detailed estimates taken to ensure the scope and budget remain intact.  There are no guarantees when it comes to construction, but the district and its architect have taken every measure to position the district for a successful project. 

How is the district helping to slow growth to help lower the capacity needs of our schools?

This is a difficult situation, as for well over 4 decades now, the main reason that people move to our community has been “for the schools”.  It has been the ongoing positive reputation of our school district that has driven development in the Village of Mahomet, portions of SW Champaign, and in the vast unincorporated parts of our district for well over 40 years.

Recently the district has increased efforts to make sure that all of our students are indeed district residents.  We have implemented new soft-ware systems that flag potential non-resident students and even have hired an investigator to verify residency when necessary..  

We continue to work diligently to strengthen our relationship with the Village of Mahomet and partner with them to help manage the portion of residential growth that is inside the village. The district has also worked with the village to promote commercial growth as part of a long term strategy  to lessen the portion of the  tax burden that falls on residential taxpayers. 

Most communities are envious of the consistent long term growth we have seen here as the result of our outstanding schools.  However there are some challenges that come with that success, and student capacity issues are the primary challenge.

How many students are in a building?

As of September 1, 2024

Middletown Prairie (MPE): Pre-K - 2nd Grades with a total of 809 students

Lincoln Trail Elementary (LTE): 3rd - 5th Grades with a total of 816 students

Mahomet-Seymour Junior High (MSJH): 6th - 8th Grades with a total of 815 students

Mahomet-Seymour High School (MSHS): 9th - 12th Grades with a total of 1,066 students

Total District Enrollment: 3,506 Students